Kappa Sigma loses Chapel Hill house, gets suspended by national fraternity over drug bust
A Raleigh property owner has terminated the lease for the Kappa Sigma fraternity house on Cameron Avenue, across the street from UNC-Chapel Hill’s campus.
The lease for the fraternity’s Alpha Mu Chapter at 204 W. Cameron Ave. will end Jan. 18 in response to a Dec. 17 announcement by local and federal law enforcement that two of the fraternity’s members were charged in October with federal drug crimes.
The property is owned by the nonprofit Alpha Mu Housing Foundation. Benjamin Cone III, president of the Alpha Mu Housing Foundation, notified the chapter about the lease in a recent letter.
“Based on the very serious allegations against the Chapter and the actions of the University and Fraternity, the Foundation has no choice but to terminate the Lease, effective immediately,” Cone wrote, according to a news release issued Tuesday by the Raleigh-based Robert Brown Public Relations firm.
News of the multi-year drug investigation also prompted UNC to suspend university recognition of Kappa Sigma and two other fraternities, Phi Gamma Delta and Beta Theta Pi, whose members were among 21 people arrested in connection with a drug ring that stretched from California to North Carolina, according to federal prosecutors.
Kappa Sigma’s national organization has since suspended its chapter for violating policies and rules. Phi Gamma Delta’s UNC chapter is still suspended and the investigation continues, executive director Rob Caudill said.
The News & Observer’s efforts to speak with the other fraternities’ national representatives Tuesday were unsuccessful.
UNC officials said in an email Tuesday that Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz’s December suspensions still stand, pending the outcome of an investigation or review. That means the fraternities can’t take part in university activities, use campus facilities, recruit members, or participate in activities organized or sponsored by the Greek councils or the Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life, the email stated.
“Loss of University recognition is the highest form of punishment for a student organization, and one the University does not take lightly,” officials said. “The national fraternal organizations may also take their own actions limiting fraternity activity.”
UNC has limited ability to regulate Greek houses because they are located off campus, but fraternities and sororities are required to follow university policies, including the alcohol policy and the Campus Code of Conduct. Their UNC chapters also belong to one of four Greek councils, which have their own requirements for membership, officials said.
Court documents show a California supplier was shipping cocaine from California using the U.S. Postal Service and delivering marijuana by vehicle, officials said. Some of the drug-sale proceeds were shipped in bulk through the Postal Service, while other money was sent using mobile payment apps and financial institutions, such as Western Union.
The network bought and sold cocaine, marijuana and a litany of other illegal drugs, U.S. attorney Matthew G.T. Martin has said.
The investigation is continuing, and sentencing is scheduled to begin next month for the first group facing charges. Other defendants had their initial hearings last month and are awaiting trial or plea bargains, court records show.
This story was originally published January 12, 2021 at 3:18 PM.
